Method and apparatus for aggregating and presenting user playback data indicating manipulation of media clips by a plurality of users

ABSTRACT

User playback data is collected from multiple user media devices. The user playback data indicates how a media clip has been manipulated by the users during playback of the media clip. The collected user playback data is aggregated and presented for display to at least one user, along with the media clip, on a media playback timeline. The media playback timeline indicates manipulation of the media clip by other users and indicates points in time during playback of the media clip that the manipulation of the media clip by the other users occurred. The manipulation of the media clip includes at least one of pause, skip forward, replay, and rewind.

TRADEMARKS

IBM® is a registered trademark of International Business MachinesCorporation, Armonk, N.Y., U.S.A. Other names used herein may beregistered trademarks, trademarks or product names of InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation or other companies.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to aggregating data, and, inparticular, to aggregating and presenting data indicating manipulationof media.

Devices that allow the playback of media and visualization of theplayback through software, hardware, and/or firmware have existed formany years. Lately, these devices have become “data network aware”, sothey can pull content from some place other than a removable medium.However, these devices do not provide aggregated user manipulationpatterns to users. Moreover, these devices are not aware of the socialnetwork of an end user. As a result, they do not offer features to theuser that take advantage of the user's social network.

SUMMARY

According to an exemplary embodiment, a method and apparatus areprovided for aggregating and presenting user playback data indicatingmanipulation of at least one media clip by a plurality of users. Userplayback data is collected from multiple user media devices. The userplayback data indicates how the media clip has been manipulated by theusers during playback of the media clip. The collected user playbackdata is aggregated and presented for display to at least one user, alongwith the media clip, on a media playback timeline. The media playbacktimeline indicates manipulation of the media clip by other users andindicates points in time during playback of the media clip that themanipulation of the media clip by the other users occurred. Themanipulation of the media clip includes at least one of pause, skipforward, replay, and rewind.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the exemplary drawings, wherein like elements are numberedalike in the several Figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for aggregating and presenting user playbackdata according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates display of a timeline of user playback data of amedia clip, collected from a plurality of users, within the media clip.

FIG. 3 illustrates how aggregated user playback data may be collectedand averaged according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to an exemplary embodiment, a method and apparatus allow forthe aggregation and display of media manipulation patterns among aplurality of users. According to one aspect, a user is allowed to see,on a media playback timeline displayed within a media clip, at whatpoints during the media clip other users have taken action to pause,replay, skip forward, or otherwise manipulate playback of the mediaclip. According to another aspect, the aggregated media manipulationdata is fed back to a media producer or retailer, as a means fordetermining the most effective portion of the media to display forlimited preview.

According to an exemplary embodiment, user playback data indicatingmanipulation of media clips may be aggregated from a plurality of enduser devices. This is shown in FIG. 1, which illustrates a media server110 collecting user playback data indicating manipulation of media clipsby various users. The media server 110 may be implemented using ageneral-purpose media server having, e.g., a microprocessor and/orhardware, software, or a combination of both for performing thetechnique described herein. The user playback data is represented inFIG. 1 as timeline blocks labeled with reference numerals 120 a, 120 b,120 c, and 120 d. The user playback data 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 dinclude markers 130 a, 130 b, 130 c, and 130 d, respectively, indicatingat what points in time during a media clip users manipulated the mediaclip. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the user playback data 120 a, 120b, 120 c, and 120 d shows at what points in time users started the mediaclip over from the beginning. However, it should be appreciated thatother user playback manipulation data may be collected, e.g., dataindicating pausing, skipping forward, etc.

User playback data is collected from a plurality of network-connecteddevices (not illustrated in FIG. 1 for simplicity of illustration).Although four user playback timelines are shown in FIG. 1, it should beappreciated that user playback data may be collected from any desirednumber of users from any desired user population. The network-connecteddevices may include, e.g., digital video recorders (DVRs) that sendnotice of user playback manipulation of media clips to the media server110. The network-connected devices may communicate with the media server110 via a wireless or wireline network, a cable network, the Internet,or any other suitable communication network. The media server 110 thenmakes the user playback manipulation data available to other end usersand/or media providers or retailers.

According to one embodiment, the media server may provide the aggregateduser playback information to a user. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, amedia clip 210 is displayed to a user, along with a media playbacktimeline 220 indicating at what points in time other users took actionwith regard to the media clip, such as pausing, replaying, skippingforward, etc. Although a video clip is shown in FIG. 2, it should beappreciated that the technique described herein may apply to any mediaclip, e.g., an audio clip. As depicted in FIG. 2, based on the inputaggregate playback manipulation data, the media server allows the timesat which users manipulated the playback of the media clip to bedisplayed, e.g., as light markers 230 a and 230 b on the playbacktimeline 220. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the user may see anaggregate of all of the points in time where other users have pressedthe 8-second-replay button on a DVR during playback of a media clip. Itshould be appreciated that different types of “markers” may be used toindicate manipulation of media clips. These different types of markersmay be displayed simultaneously, e.g., to indicate different types ofmanipulations of the media clip at various points in time.

In addition to displaying the aggregated user playback data to an enduser, the user playback data may be used to help media producers and/orretailers determine the most popular section of a media clip, e.g., bydetermining what portion of the media clip is most often replayed fromthe beginning. For this purpose, the aggregated user playback data maybe averaged by the media server 110. An example of this is illustratedin FIG. 3, which shows an average playback timeline 310 of user playbacktimeliness 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 d. The average playback timeline310 includes a marker 315 that is an average of the points in time 130a, 130 b, 130 c, and 130 d, respectively, that users started playback ofthe media clip over from the beginning This technique may be used todetermine the best place to start a media clip when a retailer/mediaproducer only exposes a fixed portion of a clip to a potential user orbuyer as a limited preview. It should be appreciated that user playbackdata indicating other manipulation of the media clip may be collectedand used by retailers/media producers.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the source of the aggregated datamay be an entire user population, in which case data collection may beuniform for all users. As an alternative, data collection may be basedon a user's social network, such that the source of the aggregated datamay be different for every user. That is, data to be presented to a usermay be collected from only those users within the user's social network.This provides the end user with useful information regardingmanipulation of media clips by other users that are part of the user'ssocial network. In addition, the position at which a clip starts can bemodified over time uniformly for the entire population or may bedynamically generated each time in a unique way for each individualuser, based on actions of users within the user's social network.

While the invention has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the invention without departing from theessential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the inventionnot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best modecontemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the inventionwill include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A method for aggregating and presenting user playback data indicatingmanipulation of at least one media clip by a plurality of users,comprising: collecting user playback data from multiple user mediadevices, wherein the user playback data indicates how the media clip hasbeen manipulated by the users during playback of the media clip;aggregating the collected user playback data; presenting the aggregateduser playback data for display to at least one user, along with themedia clip, on a media playback timeline, wherein the media playbacktimeline indicates manipulation of the media clip by other users andindicates points in time during playback of the media clip that themanipulation of the media clip by the other users occurred, and whereinmanipulation of the media clip includes at least one of pause, skipforward, replay, and rewind.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the userplayback data is collected uniformly from all the users.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the user playback data is collected only from usermedia devices of users that are part of a social network of the user towhich the aggregated user playback data is presented.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising providing the aggregated user playback datato a producer or retailer of the media clip for use in determining aportion of the media clip to display to users as a preview of the mediaclip.
 5. An apparatus for aggregating and presenting user playback dataindicating manipulation of at least one media clip by a plurality ofusers, comprising: an input for collecting user playback data frommultiple user media devices, wherein the user playback data indicateshow the media clip has been manipulated by the users during playback ofthe media clip; and a processor for aggregating the collected userplayback data and presenting the aggregated user playback data fordisplay to at least one user, along with the media clip, on a mediaplayback timeline; wherein the media playback timeline indicatesmanipulation of the media clip by other users and indicates points intime during playback of the media clip that the manipulation of themedia clip by the other users occurred; and wherein manipulation of themedia clip includes at least one of pause, skip forward, replay, andrewind.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the user playback data iscollected uniformly from all the users.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5,wherein the user playback data is collected only from user media devicesof users that are part of a social network of the user to which theaggregated user playback data is presented.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5,wherein the apparatus provides the aggregated user playback data to aproducer or retailer of the media clip for use in determining a portionof the media clip to display to users as a preview of the media clip.